The treatment of waste water such as sewage or other biodegradable materials under pressure by air or oxygen is known to the art.
Such treatment has been done as a batch process in a pressurized vessel as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,581.
While the process of U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,581 is an advance in the treatment of sewage and other waste water, it requires one or more relatively large pressurized tanks and is not suited for a continuous process or for systems for small communities which may otherwise use septic tanks and the like.
The pressurization of the waste water as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,581 will increase the absorption rate of the oxygen used, but requires closed tanks and is not suited for a continuous process.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 903,506 teaches an apparatus which is adaptable for use in a continuous process for adding oxygen to biodegradable sewage to permit the aerobic reduction of the sewage by organic means. This apparatus has marked advantages over the prior art in that it allows for a continuous process to introduce oxygen under pressure into biodegradable waste products. In addition, the apparatus will function in relatively shorter periods of time and in relatively lower levels of water then was capable in any prior art process or apparatus.
The apparatus described in said U.S. patent application has many uses and is advantageously employed in combination with a pump means to remove the oxygen enriched biodegradable waste products from a treating station. For example, in collection stations, it is common to place collection sumps in locations where gravity piping will be too deep for the continuation of the pipeline. The sumps are provided with a pump and float control to pump down the sump, i.e. to remove the wastes therefrom, when it becomes full. Since the sewage or waste water may be anaerobic or become anaerobic during its residence in the sump, obnoxious odors result. These sumps may be located within city areas, in which case such odors would be extremely objectionable. It follows, therefore, that the apparatus can be advantageously used in wet well collection stations to deliver oxygen under pressure into waste products to thereby promote the biodegradability of the waste materials. However, the apparatus is not, as described in said patent application, capable of also pumping the treated waste out of the collection station and therefore, as indicated above, it has to be used in combination with a conventional pump.